Classica Sinica Medica

神機 简体 神机

shén jī

Spirit mechanism · shen ji

Also rendered: The spirit mechanism (this site; literal, and it keeps 機 as the trigger of a device rather than as an opportunity) · Shen ji (transliteration; used where the pair 神機 and 氣立 is being discussed)

Physiology

Reviewed · 2026-10-06

At a glance

Pinyin
shén jī
Simplified
神机
Literal
神 shén — what stirs and responds, the alert half of a person; 機 jī — the trigger of a crossbow, the one part that sets the whole thing off (《說文》: 機，主發者也). 神機 is the living trigger, and this chapter is the one place in the Suwen that says what happens when it stops: 出入廢，則神機化滅 — if exit and entry are abandoned, the spirit mechanism perishes in transformation. One occurrence. It is paired, in the same breath, with 氣立: the qi that stands, which is what is lost when rising and falling cease.
Shuowen
**「神」讀 shén，本篇1見**；**「機」讀 jī，本篇1見，止在「神機」一詞內**；**《說文》：機，主發者也；引申為樞機、發動之所**；**「神機」本篇止1見，與「氣立」對言**

In brief

What a living thing has and a dead one does not, named for the trigger that sets a mechanism off. The chapter gives it in a single conditional: if exit and entry are abandoned, the spirit mechanism perishes in transformation; if rising and falling cease, the qi that stands is isolated and in peril. The two halves are the two pairs of movements — exit and entry keep the mechanism alive, rising and falling keep the qi standing — and the chapter then generalises: no vessel is without them. The only thing that neither generates nor transforms, the chapter closes, is the true person, who is one with the way.

Senses in the classical corpus

1
The graphs 神機
神者應物而動，機者主發者也
出入廢，則神機化滅 — Suwen 68
2
What stops it 出入廢
出入既廢，則神機不復
出入廢，則神機化滅 — Suwen 68
3
What it is paired with 升降息則氣立孤危
神機主出入，氣立主升降
升降息則氣立孤危 — Suwen 68
4
What is lost with it 無以生長壯老已
神機既滅，則生長壯老已無由
故非出入則無以生長壯老已 — Suwen 68
5
How far it reaches 無器不有
凡有形之器，皆有神機
是以升降出入，無器不有 — Suwen 68
6
What stands outside it 惟真人也
不生不化者，真人而已
與道合同，惟真人也 — Suwen 68

Occurrences in the classics

Passages where the term does real work, with the original, pinyin and English on the same line.

Display
2 passages
Suwen 68 Suwen 68 · 六微㫖大論 Read in context →
帝曰：不生化乎？歧伯曰：出入廢，則神機化滅，升降息則氣立孤危。故非出入則無以生長壯老已。非升降則無以生長化收藏。是以升降出入，無器不有。小大，期有近遠，四者之有，而貴常守，反常則災害至矣。 帝曰：不生化乎？歧伯曰：出入废，则神机化灭，升降息则气立孤危。故非出入则无以生长壮老已。非升降则无以生长化收藏。是以升降出入，无器不有。小大，期有近远，四者之有，而贵常守，反常则灾害至矣。
Dì yuē: bù shēng huà hū? Qí bó yuē: chū rù fèi, zé shén jī huà miè, shēng jiàng xī zé qì lì gū wēi. Gù fēi chū rù zé wú yǐ shēng zhǎng zhuàng lǎo yǐ. Fēi shēng jiàng zé wú yǐ shēng zhǎng huà shōu cáng. Shì yǐ shēng jiàng chū rù, wú qì bù yǒu. Xiǎo dà, qī yǒu jìn yuǎn, sì zhě zhī yǒu, ér guì cháng shǒu, fǎn cháng zé zāi hài zhì yǐ.
Huang Di said: is there no generating and transforming? Qi Bo said: if exit and entry are abandoned, the spirit mechanism perishes in transformation; if rising and falling cease, the qi that stands is isolated and in peril. Therefore without exit and entry there is no means to be born, to grow, to mature, to age and to end; without rising and falling there is no means to be born, to grow, to transform, to gather and to store. Thus rising and falling, exit and entry: there is no vessel that is without them. Vessels are small or great, their terms near or far; these four being present, what is precious is to hold constantly to them. To go against the constant brings disaster.
**「神機」本篇1見，即在此段**；**「機」讀 jī，本篇1見，止在「神機」一詞內**；**「化滅」連言，本篇1見；「滅」讀 miè，本篇2見**；**「孤危」本篇1見；「孤」讀 gū，本篇1見**
Suwen 70 Suwen 70 · 五常政大論 Read in context →
根于外者亦五，故生化之别，有五氣、五味、五色、五類、五宜也。帝曰：何謂也？歧伯曰：根于中者，命曰神機，神去則機息。根于外者，命曰氣立，氣止則化絶。故各有制，各有勝，各有生，各有成。 根于外者亦五，故生化之别，有五气、五味、五色、五类、五宜也。帝曰：何谓也？歧伯曰：根于中者，命曰神机，神去则机息。根于外者，命曰气立，气止则化绝。故各有制，各有胜，各有生，各有成。
Gēn yú wài zhě yì wǔ, gù shēng huà zhī bié, yǒu wǔ qì, wǔ wèi, wǔ sè, wǔ lèi, wǔ yí yě. Dì yuē: hé wèi yě? Qí bó yuē: gēn yú zhōng zhě, mìng yuē shén jī, shén qù zé jī xī. Gēn yú wài zhě, mìng yuē qì lì, qì zhǐ zé huà jué. Gù gè yǒu zhì, gè yǒu shèng, gè yǒu shēng, gè yǒu chéng.
What is rooted without is also five; hence the distinctions of engendering and transforming are the five qi, the five flavours, the five colours, the five classes and the five suitabilities. Huang Di said: what does that mean? Qi Bo said: what is rooted within is named the spirit mechanism — when the spirit goes the mechanism ceases. What is rooted without is named the standing of qi — when the qi stops transformation is cut off. Therefore each has its constraint, each its prevailing, each its engendering, each its completion.
**「神機」本篇1見，止在「根于中者，命曰神機，神去則機息」**；**與「根于外者，命曰氣立，氣止則化絶」對舉**

Compounds built on this term

氣立
qì lì
the qi that stands
本篇1見；升降息則氣立孤危，與神機對言
升降出入
shēng jiàng chū rù
ascent and descent, exit and entry
本篇1見；神機所由存者
出入
chū rù
exit and entry
本篇3見；出入廢則神機化滅
真人
zhēn rén
the true person
本篇1見；不生不化者，惟真人

How it has been translated

Every rendering below is a decision about which reader is being addressed. There is no neutral option.

This sitethe spirit mechanismliteral from 神 and 機; the graph is the trigger of a crossbow, and what the chapter asks is what happens when it is no longer set off
Transliterationshen jihow the phrase appears in writing on this chapter's close; right about the referent, and it drops the trigger
Descriptivethe animating principlefaithful to the sense, and it reads as philosophy: the chapter gives a conditional, not a principle

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2026-10-06

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